Telfault

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September 4, 2006

So you come back from holiday and you check your mobile phone bill and it seems to be a bit high. So you download a detailed bill and discover you have apparently spent €33 on sending data to an unknown fax (with a 06 number) in the Netherlands. You’ve called this number 15 times, several times on one day. Strange how the number does not appear in your phone’s memory… but there you go.

So you phone your mobile phone provider to check it out – in this case Telfort, now owned by KPN.
The friendly call centre operative on the other end listens to your story but does he agree there must be something fishy about it? Not at all. The phone bill never lies. Not that the call centre operative actually calls you a liar, but he does stress you must have made those calls. Perhaps it happened while your phone was in your pocket? Fifteen times? And anyway, you have a clamshell phone, so you can’t make accidental calls. So does the call centre operative suggest he checks out this mysterious fax number to find out more. Not at all. You have to prove the mistake. So of course, the ever helpful call centre operative is quick to give you the contact details of where to sent your complaint? Of course not. He’s not allowed to. You have to look it up on the website, under the customer service department.